Welcome to our latest round-up of news from the technology and hosting world. Here’s what we’ve discovered this week.
The impact of a single Tweet
While marketing teams love social media, many business leaders often fail to recognise the impact, either positive or negative, a single post can have. Those more sceptical should perhaps take note of maverick businessman, Elon Musk, the man behind the Tesla electric car and the SpaceX project who this week knocked $14 billion off the value of his own company and $3 billion off his own net worth with a single Tweet. How? He tweeted that the value of his company’s shares was too high and investors took note, selling them off.
When asked by the Wall Street Journal if he was joking, Musk said he wasn’t. Indeed, the Tweet seems perfectly timed. Tesla was about to hit the $100 billion value mark before it was posted, a benchmark value that would have resulted in Musk earning hundreds of millions of extra dollars in bonuses. However, he has previously stated he wanted to buy back the company shares and return it to private ownership, so perhaps the Tweet is designed to keep the price down so he can afford to buy more of them. While this sums up how maverick the guy is, the Securities and Exchange Commission, which oversees the US stock market and which has fined Mr Musk for his Tweets before, might take a dim view of his actions.
Vodafone to launch IoT health monitoring service
As the UK prepares for the end of lockdown and the challenges of keeping people safe as they return to work, Vodafone is to launch a new IoT-connected heat detection camera which monitors the temperature of up to a hundred people every minute. The device combines HD and thermal cameras, providing real-time data on employee’s body temperature that is accurate to around a third of a degree.
Suitable for all organisations, the Heat Detection Camera also comes with a laptop and tablet for accessing the data. The device comes with installation, 24/7 managed service for the associated cloud IT system and, in instances of device failure, engineers who will visit to repair or replace. At close to £17,000 a year, including VAT, it’s a high price to pay. However, as rivals enter the market, this may trigger a price war.
Android banking app threat
Android users have been told to remain vigilant about a new trojan that steals user data from banking apps. The malware works by compromising Android’s accessibility features and accessing SMS messages from where it can steal the two-factor authentication codes that most apps use.
Known as Eventbot, the trojan has been targeting banking applications in the UK, Europe and the US, and can potentially access the apps of over 200 financial institutions, with those from market leaders such as PayPal, Santander, HSBC, CapitalOne and Barclays all susceptible. Once installed, it will collect personal data, passwords, banking information and business data, while also logging keystrokes.
Security experts say Android users should update mobile device software to the latest versions, only download apps from legitimate sites, enable Google Play Protect and install a mobile threat detection app.
Badly timed ransomware
Ransomware attacks are problematic at any time, but with the pandemic just taking off, it couldn’t have happened at a worse time for Redcar and Cleveland Council. Though the attack happened back in early February, almost three months later it still has not fully restored its systems with only 90% of its services back online.
It has been particularly challenging during the lockdown, when so many people are reliant on the internet to access council services. Indeed, at some points, staff were using paper and pen to maintain operations. After prioritising remote working facilities for its employees, engineers have since been trying to restore the remaining services while increasing system security at the same time.
While no ransom has been paid and no data has been lost, the cost of disaster recovery is likely to be significant.
Where’s your backup?
Since February, there has been a large rise in the number of threats, attacks and phishing scams, as cybercriminals seek to take advantage of the current situation. For organisations that don’t want to end up with the same issues as Redcar and Cleveland Council, having a backup solution in place is critical to ensure you can recover from a disaster as swiftly as possible. eukhost’s low-cost backup solutions are securely stored at remote datacentres, can be automated to take place at the frequencies you require, are scanned to ensure files are not corrupted, and encrypted for enhanced security and compliance. For more information, visit our Remote Backups page.
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